Chicken Ranch

LAS VEGAS -- The Chicken Ranch, one of the best-known brothels in the business, is for sale for almost $7 million. Ken Green said he bought the brothel in 1982 for $1.25 million from Walter Plankinton, who named it after the Texas establishment that closed in the 1970s and was made famous on stage and screen as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

LEESBURG - "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" is a cheerful story with a thoughtful ending. There are sad moments, too. When the Melon Patch Theatre opens the musical at 8 p.m. Friday, March 22, hypocritical politicians do the two-step with a fanatical TV personality, and no one cares about the consequences. "Bring your tissues for this one," director John Turcotte said. Self-righteous reporter Melvin P. Thorpe, played by John Kreutzer, keeps his eyes peeled for a scandal he can turn into a Texas-sized tornado of media attention.

PLAY RENAMED. This city will see The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas under an assumed name. Larry Sheppard, president of the Macon Little Theater's board of governors, had hoisted a banner with the play's name across a main thoroughfare, expecting residents to disapprove. ''I figured we could get away with saying 'whorehouse' for about a week and then we'd have to change the sign,'' Sheppard said. Though the complaints were few, Sheppard said the theater will now promote the play as The Best Little Chicken Ranch in Texas, a reference to the name of the brothel depicted in the play.

Almost 500 marijuana plants were found growing between two chicken barns just 400 feet from a high school. Agents from the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency got an anonymous tip about the marijuana grow in a 40-acre chicken ranch in Waterford . On Tuesday, they found 491 marijuana plants, weighing about 8,880 lbs. at the location. The street value of the plants if they were to be harvested is estimated at $1.2 million. Four people were arrested at the chicken ranch: 53-year-old John Lee, 53-year-old Kathy Lee, 36-year-old Khon Phommavahn, and 39-year-old Ricky Saeteurn.

Almost 500 marijuana plants were found growing between two chicken barns just 400 feet from a high school. Agents from the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency got an anonymous tip about the marijuana grow in a 40-acre chicken ranch in Waterford . On Tuesday, they found 491 marijuana plants, weighing about 8,880 lbs. at the location. The street value of the plants if they were to be harvested is estimated at $1.2 million. Four people were arrested at the chicken ranch: 53-year-old John Lee, 53-year-old Kathy Lee, 36-year-old Khon Phommavahn, and 39-year-old Ricky Saeteurn.

Poor Miss Mona.She's got two new girls to train. She's faced with a crusading TV personality who wants to close down her house of ill repute. And she's pining away for love of the sheriff, who steadfastly refuses to notice she exists.Poor Miss Mona. Like too much else in the Civic Theatre of Central Florida's production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, she's afflicted with a case of the glums.The Civic's Whorehouse, like its Annie last summer, keeps trying to be a big, rollicking musical and keeps on missing the mark.

A Kenansville chicken ranch where four employees were injured last month in a construction accident has been fined $12,000 after a federal agency said it found violations of safety regulations.The ranch has until the end of October to appeal the fine.''It's seven serious violations,'' said Larry Falck of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency that oversees worker safety.OSHA inspectors say they found many of the violations on Sept. 3, two days after the accident at Bronson Farms Inc., an egg production plant with 480,000 chickens.

The layman's struggle to figure out the Orange County zoning bureaucracy may soon become simpler.At least that's the intention of a major overhaul of zoning processes, combined with some other ''common sense'' approaches, that are aimed at making the system easier for the public to use, County Zoning Manager Mitch Gordon said.The code simplification and overhaul has been in the works for more than two years, Gordon said.It will be the subject of two public hearings, the first at 5:01 p.m. Tuesday, followed by another at the same time on June 27 at County Commission chambers in downtown Orlando.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.'' The voice is modulated, confident, reassuring. ''This is your captain. We're now cruising at an altitude of 29,000 feet. Our speed is 450 miles per hour. Arrival time at Lexington airport is 4:01 as scheduled. Enjoy your flight.''Flying into Lexington, Ky., on this hot September day is a little like flying into a time warp. As the jet brings me closer to my gravely ill 88- year-old uncle, the years slip away and I'm a child again. . . .You talk Kentucky and it's thoroughbreds and mint juleps.

EUSTIS -- The splashy musical called The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas will be the summer production of the Bay Street Players. Opening at 8 p.m. today, at the State Theatre, the play combines country music with themes of morality and hypocrisy and pins it on the heart of Texas. The plot is based on the story of the legendary Chicken Ranch, a brothel in La Grange, Texas, which opened before the Civil War and was shut down in 1973. It got its name during the Depression, when patrons paid with what they had, such as poultry.

Ocala Civic Theatre's series Musicals, comedies and drama are scheduled throughout the Ocala Civic Theatre's 2012-13 Signature series and Ovation series. The Signature season will begin Sept. 6 with the "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. " The musical comedy is set on a chicken ranch in Texas at the beginning of the 20th century and continues into modern times. Next up is the holiday classic "A Christmas Story" scheduled to open Nov. 1. The play is about 9-year-old Ralphie Parker's quest for a Red Ryder BB gun, which even Santa thinks is a bad idea.

For Clarence "Pete" Peterson, volunteer work was his hobby. For decades, he volunteered with Presbyterian Homes of the Synod of Florida, now known as Westminster Communities of Florida, using his skills as a certified public accountant to organize and operate the retirement communities' accounting department. Eventually, the volunteer position became a paying job, and by the late 1980s, the organization named a health center in his honor. "In recognition of his many years of commitment and service, the board of directors named the Health Center at Westminster Towers in Orlando in honor of Mr. Clarence Peterson," said James Emerson, chief executive officer of Westminster Communities of Florida.

EUSTIS -- The splashy musical called The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas will be the summer production of the Bay Street Players. Opening at 8 p.m. today, at the State Theatre, the play combines country music with themes of morality and hypocrisy and pins it on the heart of Texas. The plot is based on the story of the legendary Chicken Ranch, a brothel in La Grange, Texas, which opened before the Civil War and was shut down in 1973. It got its name during the Depression, when patrons paid with what they had, such as poultry.

LAS VEGAS -- The Chicken Ranch, one of the best-known brothels in the business, is for sale for almost $7 million. Ken Green said he bought the brothel in 1982 for $1.25 million from Walter Plankinton, who named it after the Texas establishment that closed in the 1970s and was made famous on stage and screen as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

MONSTERS ON PARADE The bogymen of Monsters, Inc. may look scary and all, but ugly as they are, they're kind of cuddly too. Don't you think? Now you can see Sullivan and Mike "in person" in the "Disney Stars and Motor Cars Parade" daily at Disney-MGM Studios. In the Disney-Pixar movie, the two are voiced by John Goodman and Billy Crystal respectively. Check it out: The parade steps out at 2:30 p.m. daily at Disney-MGM, off Interstate 4 southwest of Orlando. Park hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

A small stone grotto built in the Mayan style and dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe graces a woodsy area of what is today the expansive and bustling Guadalupe River Ranch. History relates that the nearby Guadalupe River was named in her honor in 1689 by Spanish explorer Alonso de Leon.Supposedly built by a priest who lived in this area about 8 miles north of Boerne, the picturesque little chapel, circa 1902, marks the beginning of the ranch's somewhat checkered history. The property has been a turkey farm.

For Clarence "Pete" Peterson, volunteer work was his hobby. For decades, he volunteered with Presbyterian Homes of the Synod of Florida, now known as Westminster Communities of Florida, using his skills as a certified public accountant to organize and operate the retirement communities' accounting department. Eventually, the volunteer position became a paying job, and by the late 1980s, the organization named a health center in his honor. "In recognition of his many years of commitment and service, the board of directors named the Health Center at Westminster Towers in Orlando in honor of Mr. Clarence Peterson," said James Emerson, chief executive officer of Westminster Communities of Florida.

Ocala Civic Theatre's series Musicals, comedies and drama are scheduled throughout the Ocala Civic Theatre's 2012-13 Signature series and Ovation series. The Signature season will begin Sept. 6 with the "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. " The musical comedy is set on a chicken ranch in Texas at the beginning of the 20th century and continues into modern times. Next up is the holiday classic "A Christmas Story" scheduled to open Nov. 1. The play is about 9-year-old Ralphie Parker's quest for a Red Ryder BB gun, which even Santa thinks is a bad idea.

The layman's struggle to figure out the Orange County zoning bureaucracy may soon become simpler.At least that's the intention of a major overhaul of zoning processes, combined with some other ''common sense'' approaches, that are aimed at making the system easier for the public to use, County Zoning Manager Mitch Gordon said.The code simplification and overhaul has been in the works for more than two years, Gordon said.It will be the subject of two public hearings, the first at 5:01 p.m. Tuesday, followed by another at the same time on June 27 at County Commission chambers in downtown Orlando.

A Kenansville chicken ranch where four employees were injured last month in a construction accident has been fined $12,000 after a federal agency said it found violations of safety regulations.The ranch has until the end of October to appeal the fine.''It's seven serious violations,'' said Larry Falck of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency that oversees worker safety.OSHA inspectors say they found many of the violations on Sept. 3, two days after the accident at Bronson Farms Inc., an egg production plant with 480,000 chickens.